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James
News on Red Hat..........
The company is set to announce today that Red Hat E-Commerce suite, a cornerstone of its strategy to concentrate not only on Linux, a competitor of Microsoft Corp.'s (MSFT) Windows and other operating systems, but also on other "open-source" software tools.
"This is a significant step from Red Hat in broadening their focus," said IDC analyst Michele Rosen.
Unlike proprietary software from companies like Microsoft, the inner workings of open-source software are freely available on the Internet and elsewhere, leaving developers free to tinker with and improve the programs.
The individual pieces of Red Hat's suite, which includes the Apache Secure Webserver, an open-source database called PostgreSQL and Red Hat Linux itself, are thus available for free on the Internet. A central component of the suite, Akopia's Interchange e-commerce platform, came to Red Hat when it bought the open-source developer earlier this year.
"That's a pretty common set of products to use out in the wild," Rosen said.
Because the software components are available for free, Red Hat is betting that its suite's ease of installation and tightly integrated functions -- as well as support from its service center -- will be worth the price, about $3,000 for a one-year license.
The suite is aimed at medium-size business, according to Red Hat's Charles Gold -- those too big for basic e-commerce packages from companies like Yahoo, but too small for multimillion dollar packages from giants like Oracle Corp. (ORCL) and BroadVision (BVSN).
"It's not meant to be an Oracle or Broadvision killer," Gold said.
Not all analysts are convinced that open-source software like the PostgreSQL database program is ready for prime time in the business world, despite the success of Linux and Apache, which is now a de facto standard for Web servers.
"Open-source databases are not going to be able to compete with software by the large database vendors like Oracle, Microsoft and IBM (IBM)," said First Albany analyst Mark Murphy. "This is rocket science, what a database does, and it's just not likely that something so critical is going to be taken over by an open-source product."
But open-source advocates argue that programs like Linux and Apache are often more reliable than their proprietary counterparts, thanks to scores of volunteers who scour the code to find bugs and optimize performance.
The PosgreSQL database, for example, "lags behind in terms of proven capacity compared to Apache or Linux," Rosen said, "but it's certainly capable of running a decent-sized e-commerce site."
Asked how open-source can be an advantage, Red Hat's Gold related the tale of an anonymous programmer who downloaded a demo version of the e-commerce suite hours after its release.
"Someone took the demo and by the next day created a Japanese-language site with it" by modifying the code, he said. "That just does not happen with proprietary software."
The company is set to announce today that Red Hat E-Commerce suite, a cornerstone of its strategy to concentrate not only on Linux, a competitor of Microsoft Corp.'s (MSFT) Windows and other operating systems, but also on other "open-source" software tools.
"This is a significant step from Red Hat in broadening their focus," said IDC analyst Michele Rosen.
Unlike proprietary software from companies like Microsoft, the inner workings of open-source software are freely available on the Internet and elsewhere, leaving developers free to tinker with and improve the programs.
The individual pieces of Red Hat's suite, which includes the Apache Secure Webserver, an open-source database called PostgreSQL and Red Hat Linux itself, are thus available for free on the Internet. A central component of the suite, Akopia's Interchange e-commerce platform, came to Red Hat when it bought the open-source developer earlier this year.
"That's a pretty common set of products to use out in the wild," Rosen said.
Because the software components are available for free, Red Hat is betting that its suite's ease of installation and tightly integrated functions -- as well as support from its service center -- will be worth the price, about $3,000 for a one-year license.
The suite is aimed at medium-size business, according to Red Hat's Charles Gold -- those too big for basic e-commerce packages from companies like Yahoo, but too small for multimillion dollar packages from giants like Oracle Corp. (ORCL) and BroadVision (BVSN).
"It's not meant to be an Oracle or Broadvision killer," Gold said.
Not all analysts are convinced that open-source software like the PostgreSQL database program is ready for prime time in the business world, despite the success of Linux and Apache, which is now a de facto standard for Web servers.
"Open-source databases are not going to be able to compete with software by the large database vendors like Oracle, Microsoft and IBM (IBM)," said First Albany analyst Mark Murphy. "This is rocket science, what a database does, and it's just not likely that something so critical is going to be taken over by an open-source product."
But open-source advocates argue that programs like Linux and Apache are often more reliable than their proprietary counterparts, thanks to scores of volunteers who scour the code to find bugs and optimize performance.
The PosgreSQL database, for example, "lags behind in terms of proven capacity compared to Apache or Linux," Rosen said, "but it's certainly capable of running a decent-sized e-commerce site."
Asked how open-source can be an advantage, Red Hat's Gold related the tale of an anonymous programmer who downloaded a demo version of the e-commerce suite hours after its release.
"Someone took the demo and by the next day created a Japanese-language site with it" by modifying the code, he said. "That just does not happen with proprietary software."
Mr Chunder
Opensource forges further ahead !
This is quite a predictable but none-the-less smart move for Red Hat. Previously shipped with MySQL as the de-facto standard website database on Linux, PostgreSQL is potentially a serious open source competitor to the likes of Oracle and MS SQLServer.
I expect it to take years (yes) for corporates to look at replacing corporate systems with open source based databases. However, using open source in web environment is very acceptable.
I have heard good things about PostgreSQL - it is supposed to be at the level of Oracle/SQLServer as a backend database. It only became open source recently - originating from Ingres SQL/Computer Associates with a long history behind it I do believe.
I run some large SQLServer databases and wonder why I should continue paying $1000-$2000 licenses for MSSqlServer when I can has postgresSQL for free.
All in all, this looks like a smart move.
This is quite a predictable but none-the-less smart move for Red Hat. Previously shipped with MySQL as the de-facto standard website database on Linux, PostgreSQL is potentially a serious open source competitor to the likes of Oracle and MS SQLServer.
I expect it to take years (yes) for corporates to look at replacing corporate systems with open source based databases. However, using open source in web environment is very acceptable.
I have heard good things about PostgreSQL - it is supposed to be at the level of Oracle/SQLServer as a backend database. It only became open source recently - originating from Ingres SQL/Computer Associates with a long history behind it I do believe.
I run some large SQLServer databases and wonder why I should continue paying $1000-$2000 licenses for MSSqlServer when I can has postgresSQL for free.
All in all, this looks like a smart move.
Palm
Looks to me like RedHat is trying to make money from the Linux community.They are giving away the OS for free and here they are spelling some peace of software with a shopping cart and apache which is also free.All those software are free.And it seems foolish to sell for so much just for support.
Looks like someone is trying to make big money from software like linux.And since RedHat is a popular name in the community it is a good move for them to make some $$$.
Looks like someone is trying to make big money from software like linux.And since RedHat is a popular name in the community it is a good move for them to make some $$$.
GregS
I own some RHAT 
akashik
I think it's a good idea. It might perk out the ears of other commercial vendors to take a more serious look at Linux. RedHat make a fine product, and have pretty influencial in pulling the whole hodge potch of linux software into something useful. (nods to Mandrake, Debian, SuSe of course).
It's going to be an interesting few years ahead. ver 7.1 finally impressed me enough to think MS has a serious contender on thier hands.
Greg Moore
It's going to be an interesting few years ahead. ver 7.1 finally impressed me enough to think MS has a serious contender on thier hands.
Greg Moore
Palm
They don't have to put a price on it to show that its powerfull.